LON 
5 » the year 1365, granted the fame to Simon Iflip, their 
archbifhop, and his fiucceffors, in whom it Hill remains'. 
It is one of the thirteen peculiars in this city, belonging 
to the archi-epifcopal fee of Canterbury. 
On the north fide of this church is the Coal-meters’ 
office, in which are entered all ihips that arrive in the port 
of London with coals. There are fifteen principal meters 
belonging to this office, who appoint a fufficient number 
of perfons to meafure the coals, to prevent impofitions, 
which would otherwife happen, both in refpeft of the 
duty, and the meafure to buyers. Thefe principal meters 
have each four deputies, or labouring meters, who muft 
be approved by the lord-mayor and aldermen, as upon 
them the care of weighing and meafuring coals principally 
depends ; their bufinefs being to attend each fhip, to top 
the vats, and to return an account of the coals meafured 
to the coal-office, in order to afcertain and colleft the 
duties; for which they receive one penny per chaldron 
for all coals meafured, and two pence per ton for all that 
•are weighed. Eoth the principal and under meters take 
an oath, on their admiffion into office, to give juft mea¬ 
fure, without partiality or favour ; to buy no coals, ex¬ 
cept for their own ufe, nor to fell any, while in that of¬ 
fice ; and not to take more for their trouble than was an¬ 
ciently allowed. See the article Coal, vol. iv. p. 71a. 
Farther to the eaft, is Harp-lane; on the eaft fide of 
which is Bakers’ Hall, a plain neat edifice, on the fite of 
the dwelling-houfe of John Chichley, efq. formerly cham¬ 
berlain of London. The room called the hall is beautiful, 
and pretty large, adorned with a fine wainfcot fcreen, 
having four columns and two pilafters, with entablatures 
of the Corinthian order. At the oppolite end are pictures, 
of St. Clement, the patron of this company, and of Juf- 
tice, between which are their arms, very large, and finely 
painted. 
VVe have now to record another of thofe dreadful lia- 
vocks which the element of fire has caufed in London at 
different periods of time. Whilft our eyes were lifted up 
to furvey, and our pen ready to defcribe, the Custom¬ 
house, Providence bade it to difappear from the furface 
of the earth. The immenfe body of water that flows by 
it was of no avail to affuage or extinguifh the devouring 
conflagration ; and the river Thames recoiled hifling from 
the burning volumes of flame curling over itp ufelefs waves. 
Inftead of telling our readers, as we intended, what the 
Cultom-houfe is, we can only mention what it was—of 
fo fliort a duration are the ftrongeft works of man, vvhofe 
life is (horter ftill ! The edifice pref’ented a noble appear¬ 
ance from the water, when feen through the foreft of mails 
and chequered riggings of the veflels which cover nearly 
the whole furface of the noble river from one bank to the 
other, leaving but a narrow channel for the departure and 
arrival of (hips, and the numerous wherries, crafts, and 
boats, circulating about to load and unload them, and 
rowing up and down the itream. It was built of brick 
and Hone, and calculated to ftand for ages. So ltrong were 
the walls, fo deep the foundations !—Alas ! one night de- 
ftroyed the whole. It had underneath and on each fide 
large warehoufes for the reception of goods on the public 
account; and that fide of the Thames is lined with wharfs, 
quays, and cranes, for landing them. 
It was a hundred and eighty-nine feet in length ; the 
centre twenty-feven feet deep, and the wings conliderably 
more. The centre flood back from the river ; the wings 
approaching much nearer to it; and the building wasju- 
dicioully and handfomely decorated : under the wings 
was a colonnade of theTufcan order, and the upper ftory 
was ornamented with Ionic columns and pediments. It 
confifled of two floors, in the uppermofl of which was a 
fpacious room, fifteen feet high, alnioft the whole length 
of the building : this room was called the Long Room, 
and there fat the commiffioners of thecuftoms, with their 
officers andcletks. The innerpart was welldifipoi'ed, and fuf- 
ficiently lighted ; and the entrances were lo well contrived, 
as to anfwer all the pur poles of convenience for the tranf- 
D O N. 435 
aftion of fuch extenfive bufinefs. Of this building, there¬ 
fore, we have preferved a correct view on Plate VI! c. 
The government of the Cuftom-houfe is under the care 
of nine commiffioners, who are intruded with the whole 
management of all his majefly’s cuItems in all the ports 
of England ; and alfo the overfight of all the officers be¬ 
longing to them. Each of thefe commiffioners lias a fa- 
lary of a thoufand pounds per annum, and both they, 
and feveral of the principal officers under them, hold 
their places by patent from the king. The other officers 
are appointed by warrant from the lords of the treafury.— 
It appears that, in ancient times, the bufinefs of the Cuf- 
tom-houfe was t ran faffed in a more irregular manner at 
Billingfgate ; but, in the year 1559, an aft being paffed, 
that goods fliould be no-vvhere landed but in fudi places 
as were appointed by the commiffioners of the revenue, 
this was the fpot fixed upon for the entries in the port 
of London, and here a cuftom-houfe'was ordered to be 
erefted. It was, however, deftroyed by the fire of London 
in r666 ; and was rebuilt, with additions, two years after, 
by Charles II. in a much more magnificent and commo¬ 
dious manner, at the expenfe of ten thoufand pounds ; 
but, that beingalfo deftroyed in the fame manner, in 1718, 
the late ftrufture was erefted in its ftead. Thus the Cuf- 
tom-houfe has been three times the prey of the flames ; in 
1666,in 1718, and in 1S14. 
The fire happened on Saturday, February the mil. It 
broke out at a quarter paft fix o’clock in the morning, 
and is underftood to have originated from a fire-flue of 
one of the offices of bufinefs, adjoining a clofiet attached 
to the houfe-keeper’s apartments, on the two-pair of flairs. 
From the time of the morning at which it began, and 
from the inftant burft of flame from the back part of the 
building, there can belittle doubt of the fire having been 
numbering in a latent ftate throughout the principal part 
of the previous evening. The porter of the houfe was 
the firft perfion who difeovered it. He was going up flairs 
for a key to admit him, as ufual, to a part of the houfe 
that communicated with the offices; and when on the fe- 
cond floor lie heard a crackling of fire, asd faw a flame 
breaking from the deling;. he inftantly ruflied into the 
room, w hich was that in which colonel Kelly flept, whom 
he found ftanding by the bed-feet, the curtains in ablaze, 
and the flame pouring from the above-mentioned clofet. 
By this time the whole room was on fire; and a Mr. Drink- 
aid had given the alarm from the quay, towards which 
the windows of this room looked. The porter proceeded 
to call up the fervants and the family ; the colonel ran to 
a room adjoining his own, which was fronting the ftreet; 
he was fiaved by a ladder with the greateft difficulty, and 
fhockingly burnt in the face and hands. The account lie 
gave is, that he was awakened by a fmoke which filled 
his room, and almoft in a ftate of luffbeation he arofe and 
opened his clofiet, for the purpofe of getting at his dreff- 
ing-gown, that lie might liaften to alarm the family; but, 
immediately upon opening this clolet, a volume of flame 
burft forth—the curtains of the bed and thofe of the win¬ 
dows caught fire, and thus encompafied with the blaze lie 
was found by the porter. It appears that in this clofiet 
there was formerly a fire-place, which, for a long time, 
had been boarded up, the flue of which was connefted 
with another in an office below. The colonel, at tlie mo¬ 
ment, was carried to Mr. Lingham’s, in Beer-lane; and 
the injuries he received, added to a fevere afthmatic com¬ 
plaint which he caught in the retreat under fir John jVloorc, 
and which was much increaled by the Walcheren fever, 
occalioned his death on the 23d of the fame month. 
The Mil's Kellys moll narrowly efcaped, with-only the 
covering of blankets; mid captain Hinton Kelly 'made 
his way through the fire with his filters, in the fame nil- 
provided ftate. The captain had but the day before re¬ 
turned from Brighton, where he had been for the recovery 
of his health, which had luftered greatly in confequence 
of long fervice in the Weft Indies. Moft of the fervants 
had p rev io fifty fled to the top of the houfe, from which 
4 they 
